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Monday, 30 March 2015

LM loves Peter Rabbit. She's an avid fan of the adventures of Peter, Benjamin Bunny and Lily Bobtail and loves watching them outwit Mr Tod and Tommy Brock. The catchy theme tune will always bring her running to see what the friendly rabbits are up to now.

We recently received the brand new DVD Peter Rabbit - Tales of the Start of Spring to review and LM was delighted. She was so excited to see her favourite on the cover and we had to watch it straight away. Released on Monday 30th March the DVD is timed perfectly to be offered as an alternative gift for Easter, or simply a Spring treat for your little ones.

The DVD features over 100 minutes of all action bunny adventures, including the special 22 minute long episode 'The Tale of the Start of Spring' alongside The Tale of the Radish Robbers, The Tale of the Secret Treehouse, The Tale of the Dash in the Dark, The Tale of the Broken Bed, The Tale of Benjamin’s New Map, The Tale of the Terrible Trap, and the Tale of the Peekboo Rabbits.Peter Rabbit - Tales of the Start of Spring is available from all usual stockists including Amazon. Inside the pack you will find a free 'Hop Outside Guide' which is packed with suggestions for you to get outside and have an adventure with your children, just like Peter!I've teamed up with Abbey Home Media to offer one of my lucky readers the chance to win their own copy of the DVD. To enter simply complete the Gleam widget below. The blog post comment is compulsory and will unlock a range of additional entries. Please read the terms and conditions.For more information on Peter Rabbit DVD releases please visit their Facebook page.

This month's Bostik Craft Bloggers Box saw us challenged with creating an Easter craft, I have to confess to struggling for inspiration but the inclusion of some pretty ribbon finally gave me the idea I needed.

You will need:A sheet of A4 card
Lengths of ribbon
Pencil
ScissorsBostik Glu Pen
Stickers to decorate if required

1. Fold your card into four and press firmly to get a clean fold.

2. Draw an egg shape on to the front of your card.

3. Carefully cut out the egg shape by piercing the centre of the egg then cutting inside the outline.

4. Cut your ribbon into lengths small enough to fill the space of the cut out egg.

5. Fold out your card then stick the ribbon behind the cut out so it covers the whole space. I think it's nice to have a few different colours and textures of ribbon and to alternate these as you fill the space.

6. Glue around the inside of the card then press down the cover firmly to seal it.

6. Decorate with stickers if required, this is handy to cover any untidy cutting on your outline.

You may notice a little spotting before the glue dries, this will usually dry clear though.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Bostik Craft Bloggers Network and was supplied with a box of craft materials for this post.

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

I'm now 31 weeks pregnant with Red Rose Baby and things are starting to get a little real and scary! Baby three will be arriving in around eight or nine weeks and we're actually bizarrely relaxed. We still have tonnes of organising to do and a few key purchases to make, the biggest being somewhere for our little one to sleep. Apparently I spent my first three weeks at home sleeping in a drawer on the floor but I don't really want to repeat that with our little one!

The last few weeks have been something of a struggle. My iron levels are low and I've been battling to raise them. I'm taking supplements now and trying to eat an iron rich diet. I'll be having a blood test tomorrow when I see the midwife again so keep your fingers crossed for an improvement. I suffer from anxiety rather a lot when I'm pregnant and was hoping to escape it this time around, sadly I haven't and it kicked in with a vengeance last week. I think a large amount of it was due to me feeling really weary and I've been feeling much better this week after managing to get some rest.

My SPD has worsened in the last few weeks and I've been really struggling with pelvic pain. I have a group appointment booked for next week so I'm hoping that will give me some relief from the pain and stiffness. The SPD is making pram pushing almost impossible so LM and I have been using a combination of her walking, using her Trunki ToddlePak or pushing her on her trike, which is much easier than the pushchair as the position to push it is higher. Generally we're having a lot of quiet days at home though which is working out well for both of us.

We've been trying to declutter and get rid of some of our unwanted possessions in the last couple of weeks. It's felt good to give some things away to people who will use them, and to sell others to give us some extra spending money for our newborn essentials. Many of the items are quite bulky too so it's been nice to have a little more room around the place.

We're now looking forward to the Easter break and no school run. It's Bud's fifth birthday on Easter Saturday so this Saturday, my birthday, will see us entertaining around thirty children at his party. I'm very glad to have lovely family and friends to help with this!

Here's my latest bump shot. I've been measuring two weeks ahead over the last few weeks and I think this will probably continue until the end, I do have big babies though! I think the photo makes me look bigger than I feel. I think I was bigger with Bud, and I'm around the same as I was with LM. I think we're in line for another nine pounder... eep! All hopes for a diddy seven or eight pound baby are in vain I think.

Time is flying by and I'm sure that, once Easter is over the weeks will speed by even more quickly. I'm looking forward to spending time with my two before the baby's birth and finally, hopefully, deciding on a short list of names. I have one girl and one boy's name in my head but I'm sure they might change. Lots of my Blog Bump Club friends are starting to have their babies and it's exciting to see my timeline filling up with them! I'm hoping physio will help me on Monday, and I'll update on how that goes the next time I check in with Bump.

I love The Baby Show. I've been attending since I was pregnant with Bud and have always found the mix of exciting new products and show offers to be a fantastic combination for anyone looking to prepare for the arrival of their new baby or kit out their little ones.

The next exhibition takes place from Friday 15th May until Sunday 17th May, at the Birmingham NEC. The Baby Show is the UK's leading pregnancy and parenting event and is now in it's 13th year and will be showcasing the very best baby and infant essentials alongside innovative and exciting, not-on the high street brands with amazing discounts exclusively for visitors.

Highlights include over 200 trusted brands, from the likes of iCandy, Maxi Cosi, tommee tippee, Milton, Mamas & Papas and Mothercare offering visitors the chance to thoroughly test and try before buying, exclusive discounts, competitions and offers, and catwalk shows with all the latest fashions in maternity, baby and toddler wear.

I've teamed up with The Baby Show to give away Two Pairs of tickets to the show, valid on any day, Friday 15th, Saturday 16th or Sunday 17th May. the show is open from 9:30am to 5pm every day. Check out The Baby Show for lots more information about the show.

To win a pair of tickets please complete the Gleam widget below. The blog post comment is compulsory and will unlock a range of additional entry options, for more chances to win. Please read the terms and conditions.

Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Today I'm handing over to The Party Company who are going to share their top tips to make your Easter party go smoothly. There's also the chance to win a fun Easter prize so make sure you read through to the end!

Easter is early this year with Good Friday falling on Friday 3rd April, so there isn't a whole lot of time to grab your chocolate Easter eggs, craft materials, decorations and party supplies. Which is why we thought it would be good idea to share our top time-saving tips for Easter and also run a little ‘flash’ giveaway for a lucky winner to receive some children’s Easter goodies from The Party Company, including an Easter egg hunt kit, colour in egg baskets and bunting, plus little rabbit feet prints to follow.

We love this time of year, the weather is usually improving and the children are off school for a week or two, so it is a great opportunity to enjoy some family time.Of course the kids really look forward to it – mainly for the chocolate eggs, but there are lots of fun activities you can do together and delicious food to make, bake and eat.

Quick Edible Treats

A favourite for children at this time of year are chocolate ‘nest’ cakes with little edible eggs on top and they’re super easy to make but look and taste great!

To make crazy, crackled eggs, simply hard boil the eggs, then roll them around to crack the shells, then re-boil them in water containing food colouring – so easy!

A simple biscuit recipe is easy to mix up and young bakers love our cute biscuit cutters to give their cookies a traditional easter shape.

There’s nothing wrong with cheating, either – if you don’t have the time to make your own traditional hot cross buns, these are something you can definitely buy from the bakery.

If you are having a tea party, easter themed plates, cups and napkins really add a pop of colour and some fresh style – don’t forget the gorgeous finishing touches such as traditional stripey yellow straws. Even simple sandwiches and crisps look great when served on themed tableware.

Speedy Easter Decorations

Pick some daffodils from the garden or pop to the local florists and set a pretty table with a vase of flowers on top of a spring-like tablecover and you are halfway there!

Hang some inexpensive tissue pom poms or floral garlands for instant Easter magic or get the children making paper chains to keep them busy whilst creating some seasonal décor for the home at the same time.

Easter Activities for Kids

If you are busy and short of time, the best thing you can do is get the children creating and crafting at the table. Easter is a great time to make fluffy cotton wool lambs using toilet roll holders and things like easter chick masks and hats etc. There are lots of simple, fun ideas on our Easter pinterest board if you need some inspiration and we also sell easter crafting kits in our shop.

If you are planning to do an easter egg hunt, make it easy with an egg hunt kit which will usually contain all the essentials, such as cardboard baskets, fun masks, pointer arrows, stickers and more. Then all you need to do is buy some chocolate eggs and hide them.

Giveaway time!

To really get you in the Easter mood and to make life a little easier over the bank holiday weekend, why not take part in our ‘flash’ giveaway. We are only running this until Monday 30th March, to make sure the winner receives their treats in time for Easter.

We've kept it simple to enter, just choose to do any or all of the entry options below and good luck! The winner will be chosen at random and announced on Tuesday morning. So come on, what are you waiting for? Hop to it!